We know now that Project Natal is Kinect. It is like ‘Connect’ but with a K. Quite simple really? We also know when it will be released in North America. However, we still don’t know at what cost and this is a worrying start for the motion-less controlled device.
But not only is a lack of a price-point of concern, but ultimately the casual audience that could embrace the new technology and potentially shift the hardcore gamers out of the driving seat.
At the Microsoft E3 2010 press conference, plenty of Kinect material was showcased including a variety of Wii rip-offs. The problem is, is that we’ve done most of what Kinect has up its sleeves, a few years ago when the Wii was launched.
We’ve all marvelled at waving the Wii remote to throw a bowling ball or play a match of tennis. How we howled out our Nan’s on a Wii-Fit board trying to balance whilst breaking a hip. But now we’ve seen it and done it, do we really want more?
Because that is what Kinect is offering to gamers but ultimately is it going to see the demise of the core games on the console. That’s what’s worrying gamers right now, after the showcase of Kinetic titles including Kinetic Sports (sound familiar?); it could be the turn of the Xbox 360 to give us the sin-bin titles.
Motion-controlled devices are all very clever and there is no doubting the technology behind Kinetic is immense. However, it is slightly worrying to see Microsoft devote most of their press conference to games that will make use of it. Obviously with such a big push for the device, it was fairly obvious that they would make a big fuss, but with both a Sunday night Kinetic event and then a press conference as well, it seemed they really wanted to try and push the device to the press attending.
After a long day at work, perhaps standing on your feet all day, will you really want to come home and start running on the spot to the athletics’ events in Kinect Sports? The answer is probably no, therefore most gamers will return home and flick on a game they can chill out too. With the Kinetic software showcased so far, most of it requires energy. Patting and petting a virtual tiger doesn’t count as chilling out, because even then, you still have to move your arms about in an awkward manner.
If you look at the Wii, you can see that on a weekly basis, another piece of shovel-ware is released to the public. And each time, many people get caught up in the hype, only to be left disappointed when it is fun for about a day at a time. The truth is gamers don’t want controller-less gaming, they want to hold a firm pad in there sweaty hands. Microsoft isn’t taking this away from us, but it is changing its direction, and that could be a dangerous one.
To lose its core audience could be disastrous and Nintendo will all well know about losing that said audience. From its focus on key products such as Mario and Zelda, to an emphasis on devices such as Wii Fit and the Vitality Sensor, it has shown that the company wants to attract a much wider range of gamers. Arguably they have succeeded where the other two companies failed. Yet Microsoft is treading into dangerous waters with technology that until now has been questioned. Will the device lag? Will it recognise accents? Will it even scan objects like we were shown at E3 2009?
Only Microsoft has the answers and it is keeping coy about some of the ideas behind Kinect. But for whatever failures that happen, the key importance here is price. And so far that is being tight-lipped. Rumours abound suggested a £50 price-point, then a few weeks ago, other sources pointed at £100 plus. That is a price-point that will fail miserably. And with all the backing of Kinect from the Dance Mania game- which actually, looks half-decent as a Kinect launch title - the rest look like the shovel-ware we’ve come to expect from the Wii. And we’d be damned by saying that most casual gamers will fork out that little bit more to buy a Wii console, rather than an Xbox 360 and Kinect.
Microsoft will have to do much more than a camera to try and entice audiences from Nintendo’s console. It’ll have to advertise the device in every form of media possible and it’ll need to install the technology in stores for people to see in real-time. That is when decisions can be made. If Kinetic fails as a piece of hardware, it could be very embarrassing for the corporate giant. No one likes to see a piece of hardware fail, particularly not Microsoft. Another Xbox Live vision camera style disaster could be fatal to the company being taken seriously.
Whatever your views on Kinect are, one thing is that this technology is only just the start. We were amazed at E3 2009 when the device was revealed and some people still stand in awe at what is happening in front of their very eyes today. Others offer a more sceptical outlook at the device. Whether we like it or not, motion controlled games are here to stay. If you want to jump onboard that is your decision. And how ever many of you do is the key to Kinetic’s success.
By Rob Rymond
